The manner in which many liquid waste products including blood and body fluids and embalming fluid from embalming procedures performed by morticians is presently being handled and disposed of is of great concern. According to statistics from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), over two million embalming procedures are performed annually, each producing two and one-half to three and one-half gallons of blood and excess embalming fluid. The Center for Disease Control has stated that contact with these body fluids can potentially transmit infectious diseases such as Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS), diphtheria, tuberculosis, hepatitis, and so on.
At the present time, virtually all liquid waste from the embalming process is disposed of through conventional sanitary sewers, ending up at sewage treatment plants where it is treated as conventional sewage. The pathogens being released can still potentially transmit infectious diseases. In many cities these effluent pathogens are released into streams, lakes, and rivers, where they reenter the drinking water supply.